Means for intercepting the escape of ash to the atmosphere



March 20, 1951 E. c. ADDISON 2,545,537

MEANS FOR INTERCEPTING THE ESCAPE OF ASH TO THE ATMOSPHERE Filed Nov. 20, v1946 Patented Mar. 20, 1951 MEAN S FOR INTERCEPTING THE ESCAPE F ASH T0 THE ATMOSPHERE Edward o. Addison, sione Harbor, N. J. Application November 20, 1946, Serial No. '711,694

(Cl. 18S-31) Claims.

The principal object of the present invention is to oppose o-r prevent the escape into the atmosphere of objectionable solid products of combustion in powdered form derived from powdered fuel; and second, to deliver into the atmosphere gaseous products of the combustion of powdered fuel, and collect solid particles of the residue of the combustion.

Other objects of the present invention will appear from Ythe following description at the end of which the invention will be claimed.

Generally stated,.the invention consists in opposing or preventing the escape to the atmosphere of powdered ash resulting from the combustion of powdered fuel, which .comprises a screen through which the ashes from the solid fuel may not pass and by which they are entrained, a water spray for washing solid particles from the screen, and an oftake to the atmosphere directed to the outlet of the screen.

The invention also comprises the improvements to be presently described and finally claimed.

In the following description reference will be made to the accompanying drawing forming part hereof and in which,

Figure 1 is an elevational view.

Fig. 2 is a top or plan view, and

Fig. 3 is a detail of construction taken on the line 3 3 of Fig. 1.

Referring to the drawing, in the collecting of fly ash, soot, or light, iluffy, dusty ash from either pulverized fuel boilers or spreader type stokers, a vacuum ash conveyor l collects this material from the various collecting points and discharges the material into a tile silo 2 where it is collected until it is carted away in trucks Jor railroad cars. In ord-er to convey this material by means of a vacuum it is necessary for large amounts of air to be carried in the pipe l along with the material to be conveyed. The air enters the receiver 3 where it is desirous to separate the material from the air, i. e., the material discharges into the silo 2 and the air passes out of the receiver 3 into an air washer Il. By installing plain Water sprays 5 in the air washer 4 the force of this air mixed with the y ash carried over carries the water from the spray on with it. In other words, there is not sufficient resistance in the water spray to knock down the fly ash in the air. In order to accomplish this the spray pipe 5 is installed, in the bottom of which is provided holes spaced at approximately 1 inch centers. From these spray pipes 5 is hung a section of iiexible heavy wire spiral screen l, which makes it necessary for the air and dust to go through this screen l which is covered with a complete body of water. In other words, the particles in th-e air hit the screen l and the water keeps the screen clean by washing the particles oir 'the screen and draining them into the sump cleared through the drain pipe 9. lll and 8 are connections for introducing and withdrawing Water into and out of the receiver 3. From the receiver 3, l2 indicates an oitake to thev atmosphere.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art to which the invention relates that modiiications may b-e made in detailsof construction or arrangement without departing from the spirit of the invention.

I claim:

l. An apparatus for separating dust, flyash and other such light-weight residue products of combustion from a conveying stream of a gaseous medium comprising a main collection chamber for receiving the heavier products of combustion, a separator operatively associated with said main chamber having an intake opening in communication with a delivery conduit for said products of combustion a discharge conduit for said separator open to atmosphere, said discharge conduit including a laterally oifset portion having a bottom wall which slopes downwardly and away from the central axis of said separator, screen means disposed within said offset portion of the discharge conduit for intercepting passage of the lightweight products of combustion to atmosphere by way of said discharge conduit while permitting free passage therethrough of said conveying stream of the gaseous medium, and means for continuously iiowing water over said screen means to wash the same free of the intercepted products of combustion, said water being directed by the sloping wall of the offset portion of the discharge conduit to a point external of the separator.

2. An apparatus for separating dust, fly-ash and other such light-weight residue products of combustion from a conveying stream of a gaseous medium comprising a conduit system having its outer end open to atmosphere and through which the products of combustion are conveyed by said gaseous stream, a centrifugal separator connected in said conduit system for initially separating fro'm said stream the heavier products of combustion, a main collecting chamber operatively associated with said separator for receiving said heavier products discharged by gravity from said separator, said conduit system including therein a conduit section inclined downwardly and outwardly from the discharged end of said separator, a screen interposed in said inclined section of the conduit system for intercepting passage to atmosphere of the light-weight products of combustion carried through the separator, and spray means for continuously owing water over said screen to wash the same free of the intercepted products of combustion and convey them to a point of collection external of said main collector.

3. An apparatus for separating dust, fly-ash and other such light-weight residue products of combustion from a conveying stream of a gaseous medium comprising a conduit system having its outer end open to atmosphere and through which the products of combustion are conveyed by said gaseous stream, a centrifugal separator connected in said conduit system for initially separating from said stream the heavier products of combustion, a main collecting chamber operatively associated with said separator for receiving said heavier products discharged by gravity from said separator, a screen interposed in said conduit at a point external of said separator to intercept passage to atmosphere of the light-weight products of combustion carried through the separator by said gaseous stream, and spray means for owing water over the full surface of said screen to effect complete separation of the intercepted products of combustion from the gaseous stream, the section of the conduit in which said screen is interposed being arranged to facilitate i'low of the wetted products of combustion by gravity to a point external of the separator and said main collecting chamber.

4. An apparatus for separating dust, fly-ash and other such light-weight residue products of combustion from a gaseous conveying stream comprising a centrifugal separator having an outlet in communication with a discharge conduit open to atmosphere, said conduit having an intermediate section which slopes downwardly to one side of the separator outlet, an interceptor 4 screen disposed in said downwardly sloping section of the discharge conduit for intercepting the passage of light-weight particles carried through said separator by said gaseous stream, spray means for continuously flowing water over the full surface of said screen for washing the latter free of the intercepted particles while permitting discharge of the gaseous stream to atmosphere, and means foi` effecting gravity flow of the wetted products of combustion intercepted by said stream from said sloping section of the conduit to a point of collection removed from said separator.

5. In an apparatus as dened in claim 4 wherein said interceptor screen is in the form of a vertically disposed member extending transversely of the discharge conduit open to atmosphere and wherein said spray means is in the form of a perforated water tube secured to and extending longitudinally along the upper edge of said vertically disposed screen member.

EDWARD C. ADDISON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 529,625 Lowe Nov. 20, 1894 782,190 Clough Feb. 7, 1905 1,504,386 Senseman Aug. 12, 1924 1,841,556 Stelz Jan. 19, 1932 1,895,652 Fisher Jan. 31, 1933 2,268,540 Andrews Jan. 6, 1942 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 574,472 Great Britain Jan. 7, 1946 293,773 Germany Aug. 29, 1916 343,587 Germany Nov. 4, 1921 

